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to examine, from time to time, and report upon tlie various corainercial 

 fertilizers ofltered in market within the State. They are expected to 

 ascertain and report the component i^arts and the intrinsic value of 

 each. The example is a good one for all the vStates to follow. 



Wheat for pork.^-A correspondent in Marion County, Oregon, 

 reports that, in that section, when the price of wheat is low, farmers 

 find they can profitably feed it to hogs, since wheat makes finer pork 

 than any other feed. Some of the best farmers believe it always pays 

 to feed it to hogs when pork will bring C cents. The present price is 6 

 to 7 cents net, and the price of wheat 65 cents. 



Protection to the banks of the Ohio. — Mr. J. H. Mather, of 

 Washington County, Ohio, sends to this Department the following com- 

 munication on this subject : 



Every year the river encroaches more and more upon its banks, and thousands of 

 acres of valuable land are annually lost. A simple, practical method of preventing 

 abrasion has been tried by Mr. A. P. Sherman, which now, after thirteen years, gives 

 perfect satisfaction. Mr. Sherman's land lies on a point in the river where the current 

 exerted its full force in washing away the bank. Finding it was washing away so fast 

 that his house was in danger, he determined to prevent further encroachment. When 

 the river was low he set, between the foot of the bank and the water, three rows of 

 posts, 10 feet apart each way. The posts were 6 inches in diameter, 7 or 8 feet in length, 

 and set in the ground five feet deep. He tben scattered brush between the posts, care 

 being taken, in cutting and placing, to make it compact as possible. He next jiressed 

 it down and confined it by j)laciug over it poles, crossing each other at right angles, 

 • and pinning them to the posts. The object of the brush was, to form a lodging-place 

 for the earth washed down from the banks, and to retain the sediment deposited by the 

 water. After the next spring-freshet had subsided the brush was covered with a de- 

 posit of sand. In this he planted willo\ts thickly, and jirotected them from the depre- 

 dations of cattle. He has never since put any work on it. Now he has a regular 

 grade from the top of the bank to low water, and the bank, instead of washing away, 

 is gaining steadily every year. For several years he has been getting hay from what 

 was formerly the naked beach. His river-front is 22 rods in length, and he estimates 

 the cost of the work and material at not more than $100. For those who have the 

 materials on their own premises it of course would be less. 



It is the more important that the banks of the Ohio should be protected, from the 

 fact that the earth washed from them helps to form the bars which are such obstruc- 

 tions to its navigation ; moreover, if they were protected the river would become nar- 

 rower and its channel be deepened. The shoals of the Great Kanawha, which were 

 dredged during the late war, have not yet filled up, because the banks are protected by 

 the timber that has been allowed to remain upon them. If the shoals of the Ohio 

 were to be dredged and its banks i>rotected all along its course, it would be many years 

 before they would fill up. In that case the Government would be saved much of the 

 expense which it is annually incurring for its improvement, and many thousands of 

 acres of valuable land would be reclaimed. 



Beet-sugar in Europe. — M. Licht, a German statistician, estimates 

 the beet-sugar crop of Central and Eastern Europe for the last two sea- 

 sons as follows : 



1S73-74. 1874-75. 



Tons. Tons. 



ZoUverein 288,972 2.55,000 



Austro-Hungarv 169,000 140,000 



Russia and Poland 1.50,000 130,000 



Belgium 70, .366 65,000 



Holland, &c 35,000 30,000 



713, 338 620, OOq 



These figures show a falling ofl" of 93,338 tons. 



It is stated in the Journal d' Agriculture Pratique that the amount 

 of sugar taken in charge after defecation, in France, during the first 

 eleven months of 1874 was 237,798 tons, against 200,288 tons in the 

 twelve months of 1873. It is estimated in certain quarters that the 

 Prench i)roduet of raw sugar during the season of 1874:-'75 will reach 



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